Not much. Mark Schmitt observes: Roughly speaking, there have been four great showdowns over abuse of executive power in modern U.S. history. The earliest has to do with domestic surveillance by the CIA, and other ill-conceived schemes, as revealed by the 1975 Church Committee hearings. The second, closely overlapping the first, involved all the excesses of the Nixon administration, including … Read More
Bad Omens For Many
“Mr. Abramoff says he has information that could implicate 60 lawmakers,” the WSJ reports (subecription required). Here’s some more news roundups on the impact of the Abramoff plea: The Washington Post: Abramoff represented the most flamboyant and extreme example of a brand of influence trading that flourished after the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives 11 years ago. Now, … Read More
Sago Genesis
(1) West Virginia coal firms raised $275,000 for Bush. (2) The Bush administration cut 170 positions from federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and has not proposed a single new mine-safety standard or rule during its tenure. (3) Only 1 miner survives West Virginia coal mine incident. Now, am I suggesting that Bush is responsible for the Sago explosion? … Read More
God, No
Donald Trump "flatly ruled out running for governor this year — but hinted he may go for president in 2008," the New York Post reports.
The Sago Mine Explosion
Well, it doesn’t look good for the 13 miners, according to the latest stories. Whether they survive or not, it’ll take months — maybe years — to determine what caused the mine mishap and whether it could have been prevented. But right now, one wonders if this could have been avoided. Scott Shields finds an interesting article from the New … Read More
President Brush
Not long ago, I made an off-the-cuff comment that Bush must have a lot of brush at his Texas ranch, since he seems to be clearing it much of the time. Apparently, the Bush devotion to brush-clearing is pathological: On most of the 365 days he has enjoyed at his secluded ranch here, President Bush’s idea of paradise is to … Read More
Military Not As Crazy About Bush
From the Military Times: Support for President Bush and for the war in Iraq has slipped significantly in the last year among members of the military’s professional core, according to the 2005 Military Times Poll. Approval of the president’s Iraq policy fell 9 percentage points from 2004; a bare majority, 54 percent, now say they view his performance on Iraq … Read More
Valerie Plame Is Outted Again
The Washington couple at the heart of the CIA leak investigation had their cover blown by their small son as they tried to sneak away on vacation on Thursday. The former spy, who just retired from the agency, and the diplomat have been at the center of a CIA leak scandal that has reached into the White House. They said … Read More
Conservatism And Anti-Intellectualism
I have been only marginally following the debate between Matt Yglesius and The Corner Kids. Tom Hilton summarizes: Our story so far: Jeffrey Hart writes a piece in the Wall Street Journal about the state of modern conservatism (short version: Burke good, DeLay bad–hard to argue with that) in which he makes this observation: The most recent change occurred in … Read More
Rove In The Crosshairs
I haven’t been following the minutae of Plamegate lately, but if this is true, it doesn’t bode well for Karl Rove: In late January 2004, the grand jury investigating whether top officials in the Bush administration knowingly leaked Valerie Plame Wilson’s name and covert CIA status to reporters subpoenaed the White House for records of administration contacts with more than … Read More
Bush And The NSA Wiretapping
This topic has been churning in the blogosphere and media for 48 hours now (at least), and I have nothing new to add. But I am absolutely appalled at the poor defense given to the action, as a matter of constitutional law. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution is quite simple: There shall be no warrantless search and seizures of … Read More
29 Months – The Reality Gestation Period
George Bush, 12/14/05: It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong. George Bush, 7/14/03: I think the intelligence I get is darn good intelligence and the speeches I have given are backed by good intelligence. Rule of thumb: Next time Bush assures us about something, don’t take it to the bank — wait at least … Read More
The “Heckuva Job” Curse
President Bush sat down with Fox News’ Brit Hume yesterday: HUME: Is he here to stay as far as you are concerned? BUSH: Yes. End of my term is a long time, but I tell you, he is doing a heckuva good job. I have no intention of changing him. Flashback: "Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job."
So Shouldn’t He Be Subpoenaed?
If Bob Novak is right, I think Fitz needs to subpoena POTUS. From the News-Observer: Newspaper columnist Robert Novak is still not naming his source in the Valerie Plame affair, but he says he is pretty sure the name is no mystery to President Bush. "I’m confident the president knows who the source is," Novak told a luncheon audience at … Read More
Bubble Boy
You gotta love the graphic on the cover of this week’s Newsweek. More here.